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ThinkSecret's iPod Rendering

The plot thickens

Just to stir things up... I don't know WHAT to make of this thing I found in the AppleInsider.com forums (and apparently from Spymac before that). Could easily be a fake, since it's blurry--and clever to show so little, as if the shot was taken sneakily without checking the angle. Or maybe it's a prototype that will never sell. Or maybe some existing non-Apple product. Anyway... it looks smaller than the ~5.5"x7" macwhispers enclosure, but bigger than the iPod.

I found it here: http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23036

And it came from here (where the poster simply called it "Pad" without explanation):
http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=24610
 
Originally posted by MacRumorSkeptic It is most certainly harder!
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you poor thing. my deepest sympathies to you and yours. if buttons being moved .99mm from their original spot is your definition of hard, than may god have mercy on your soul...and your freakishly small hands. 😡
 
"Pad" looks fake to me. If someone was going to go to the risk and trouble to take a picture of a new iPod with intent to leak it to the net, they would do a much better job and take a picture that wouldn't be open to debate.
 
Re: If true, 2 steps backward no wheel input and a freaking cradle?

Originally posted by deanmass
OK...

IF this thing is accurate...

The wheel navigation is one of the simplest most useful interfaces I have used. I love it. Adding those freaking buttons is just going to drive the prices UP on the old ones.

Cradle? CHRIST!

Suggestions?

Dump the chrome with a more scratch resistant surface, extend battery life, a tiny bit more gain on the outputs and either shrink it a bit more OR make it more 'drop proof'.

The originals were damn near perfect. Do you really NEED more capacity NOW?
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You are stupid! The new iPod will still have the wheel...
 
Re: The plot thickens

Originally posted by nagromme
Just to stir things up... I don't know WHAT to make of this thing I found in the AppleInsider.com forums...{snip}
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Can't be real. At least not a real Apple. It doesn't have any of the look/feel attributes that Apple does so well. Apple stuff cries out: "touch me, feel me, use me (buy me!)" This thing cries out "blech".


_________


If you look at the perspective and resize the photo (about 85%), the size of that "iPod" is about 4 1/8 inches WIDE. If it retains the proportions of the original iPod that would make this thing...

4 1/8" X 7

6000 songs in your pocket? You got some bigass pockets...


EDIT: Just noticed something else -- the fake iPod is certainly a Photoshop -- the thing's not even square! The right side angles in! Art 101 will tell you -- bad perspective!
 
As I said earlier, I'm happy w/the 20 gig iPod I bought in March. HOWEVER, whenever I purchase tech, I know (and hope) that something better, cooler, and cheaper is probably going to be released the next day. So what? I'm happy. The dude that buys the next greatest thing is happy. And innovation and usefulness, which is what draws us to tech in general and Apple in particular continues. (Actually, I was waiting until April, but a convergence of "needs" made me jump a bit faster; it doesn't make me unhappy with what I bought.)
 
thinking too much about ipods

I seriously am thinking too much about this new ipod design possibility. So much that it made it's way into my dream last night. I was at a compusa and there was an apple guy there doing a weird keynote type thing about the ipods and he unveiled the new design. It didn't have a scroll wheel (touch or mechanical) but had those 4 buttons and then left of center below those buttons, it had 4 buttons arranged in a circle (much like what you see on tv remote controls for vol up, down and channel up , down) and then something else right of center next to it that was smaller. Not a great description but it looked really nice. And I think this image is the result of all the posts I've read and pictures that have been posted about ipods in the last few days. Oh and unfortunately in my dream the sizes were still 10, 15, and 30. Someone posted awhile back about there only being a 5 gig difference between the 10 and 15 vs the 15 and 30 for the same price yet there was only a 5 gig diff between the 5 and 10 for the same $100 difference in price. granted, paying $100 for a doubling of space (5 to 10) looks better than a difference of 1/3 but they're probably thinking that consumers will say to themselves "Hmmm...for $100 more I can get 5 more gigs of space" but I'm thinking "Hmmm...for $100, all I'm getting is a measly 5 more gigs? I think I'll just keep saving so I can buy the one with max capacity"
I still hope that the lineup is 10-20-30 or 10-20-40 so I can get the 20 at hopefully $399 (if pricing stays the same) since the reason why I didn't just buy the 10 months ago was because I wanted to save up for the 20 then this whole thing started up and the next thing I knew, the only place I could get the ipod was direct from apple and I'm all about avoiding the tax monster (shhhhh).
 
Re: thinking too much about ipods

Originally posted by Monkeypoo
I seriously am thinking too much about this new ipod design possibility. So much that it made it's way into my dream last night.
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Heehee, several weeks ago, back during the early days of "this Tuesday!" I had an iPod dream as well, except it was about the special edition 100 pound (as in weight) iPod! 😀 All I remember is that this thing was approximately 2 feet by 3 feet in dimensions. I must have had a good late-night snack that night.
 
I think that a solution would be to have both the buttons surrounding the scroll wheel, and the buttons above the scroll wheel, so that everyone would be happy!😀
 
you poor thing. my deepest sympathies to you and yours. if buttons being moved .99mm from their original spot is your definition of hard, than may god have mercy on your soul...and your freakishly small hands.

Thanks for taking my quote out of context. I actually have rather large hands and if you read on it also says I could easily do both. The complaint is NOT that I have to reach further its that the FEEL of the iPod is radically different if the rumors are true.

I never heard of anyone complaining about the iPods button configuration until now. I think its because there are a lot of Apple yes men who think that Apple can do no wrong and must always defend them even if they make a stupid decission. I for one am an Apple fanatic, who expects only the best, will accept nothing less and is willing to criticize them if they don't deliver.
 
Thanks for taking my quote out of context

My fault. I guess I was taking my frustrations out on the wrong person. but you do raise an interesting point. You say the new config will be difficult/frustrating to get used to. but what about people like me who dont have an ipod now? anything they put out is new to me. im going to have to get used to something, no matter what it looks like.
 
Perspective makes things angle--and it could be real even if it's not the mainstream iPod (which I agree it's too large for). The only thing that looks suspicious to me as far as fakery is the character of the buttons. They COULD be real, but they give me the impression of a bump-map somehow.
 
It is pretty simple....

If they add features while retaining the same old ones that are excellent ( scroll wheel w/controls, firewire w/o cradle and style) it will sell.
 
A possible design would be with the buttons still located around the scrollwheel, but only taking up a 120º arc. It would reduce the finger gymnastics required for the current model but would still (I think) look sweet.
 
scrolling through dates and addresses, and to a lesser extent playlist sets could still be done with the scroll wheel and button. its much faster that way. the fast forward and rewind buttons could be utilized in specific albums and playlists.

i know its a stretch, but thats what i think.
 
Originally posted by hitman
what would the scroll wheel be used for with the advent of new buttons? anyone?
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The new design shown at ThinkSecret is just a rearrangement: still five buttons and a wheel (one button in the middle of the wheel). No reason to assume major changes in the button functions:

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Originally posted by nagromme
Perspective makes things angle--and it could be real even if it's not the mainstream iPod
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No, look at it again. There are several factors that don't add up.

One: the object is photographed very closely and flat; the perspective needed to distort right angles so severely is extreme.

Two: if it were perspective, the angle on the right side would also be present on the left side, but it's square there. The side lines would need to be parallel, but they're not even close.
 
Originally posted by Wonder Boy
you poor thing. my deepest sympathies to you and yours. if buttons being moved .99mm from their original spot is your definition of hard, than may god have mercy on your soul...and your freakishly small hands. 😡
Click to expand...

I am not sure what you are referencing, but the buttons being removed from edge of the scroll wheel is a move of more than .99 mm. If I were to hold a deck of cards and my hands, and trace out the areas my thumb could reach, it would describe the scroll wheel and surrounding buttons. (I never have a problem accidently hitting the side switches, but they are easy to hit if I wish my merely contacting the knucklejoint instead of the thumbtip)

Four buttons across the top, might call for a shift of the ipod in the hand, a chance to drop it, etc.

I think the reason for the buttons in a row is to separate them for new functions.
 
Originally posted by MacRumorSkeptic


Don't get me started on how pointless an accessory the cradle is. What can it do that a single Firewire cable can't? Does this mean it comes in place of the Firewire cable?
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This is the most believeable aspect of the rumored redesign if you ask me.
A cradle would allow access to USB as well as firewire, without having to put a second port on the iPod itself, and add an accessory they could sell extras of. It would allow it to drop in via gravity dock to a little boom box, or as storage on an iTablet, etc...

A cradle holding the iPod upright as it is charging would also make it easier to mount the iPod where you could view the songs name as it is playing, in a car cigarette lighter. Although I think this is a bad idea... keep your eyes on the road.
 
My hope is that it had the firewire port still on top with a special cradle port on the bottom. Using the cradle seems like a better idea when you're at home, but if you take your iPod to another Mac (e.g. a lab Mac, or if you're traveling) you probably don't want to be carrying around a cradle when it could be just a cable. Besides, eliminating the top FW port would mean that things like the iTrip won't fit as well.
 
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